Power of PBL outside of school

 As I sit here on a Saturday morning I am starting to think about the upcoming school year and I am getting excited. Yes excited. I  know there will be some new wrinkles to deal with such as mask vs no mask, social distancing, etc. but I can see a little bit of normal coming back. That is not what is getting me excited. What is exciting me is a chance to re-engage kids with creating something from scratch, doing something using the skills they have as well as empowering them to learn new ones as well as honing my PBL skills.

I tested this out this summer after reading the book "What School Could Be" by Ted Dintersmith. I gave my two daughters a project to complete for me. After seeing them earlier in the year work on taking canvas shoes and painting designs on them I asked that they create something for me. One daughter I asked how much she would charge me to do a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All Starts and the other I just asked to do it. The results were as I expected but really helped me see the power of doing PBL in the classroom. 

How I approached this project is similar to how I could in my classroom and/or how I would approach an artist to do a work for me. I asked if they were interested and what they needed to get started. I worked out a draft design of what I wanted and gave it to both "artists". I then gave them the parameters (specs for you in an engineering class) of my project. They asked a few questions and then got going on the project. I did not give a timeline for the project and stressed I wanted it be something that was fun and enjoyable. I also told them that if they needed something (tool, skill, etc) to let me know so I could help.

The one who I told I would pay her for is dragging her feet and I can only think she is seeing it as a chore more than a project. However she is also starting her sophomore year in high school and other stresses of being 15 years old coming out of a pandemic. This is a good opportunity to try out some intrinsic motivation strategies as well as see how I can work with her on this project. Some may count this as a failure or an example of why PBL is not a good idea in the classroom. I see it vastly differently; I see it as an example of how grades can demotivate students.  

The other one I didn't say I would pay her just that I wanted her to do a design on a pair of Van's Checkered Skate shoes. The main difference with her was I didn't tell her I would pay her for her services. What was interesting was as soon as I got the shoes in her hands she wanted to jump on creating them. She went through several mock-ups of designs as well as testing out paint colors for me. Once we agreed on the design and color she got to work. Watching her use painter's tape to block out the individual squares she was painting and marking end points etc. was fascinating to watch. All in all it took her less than a week to complete the project and the smile on her face when I first walked out the door with them on was all evidence I needed to know this was a success. And yes I did pay her for her services. For those interested here are photos of the completed shoes:

Yes these are University of Washington themed shoes. Go Dawgs!

What I have learned through this simple application of PBL at home are:

1. It is a great way to reinforce intrinsic motivation
2. You don't need to have every part of the project mapped out ahead
3. It is ok if you are not an expert on what kids are doing
4. Failure is not always a bad thing
5. Kids love to create things
6. Due dates to mean on time delivery

I can't wait to try this out in a larger scale in my classroom this year and apply the lessons learned. My goal is to give each of the 3 classes I teach a theme. One will be designing a physical game with a theme and has both a physical and graphic component. The kids will decide most of the components that make it up as well as the rules etc. Another will be based off of the FIRST FTC them of Freight Frenzy. Student's will need to identify a problem with distributing goods and/or access services and then come up with, test, and present a solution to their problem. My last class will be a little more scripted that true PBL as I need to teach them both how to build and program a robot using Java. They will have the ability to design their own robot and write their own code to complete the tasks for the class but there will be more teaching of concepts since most kids taking the class have only minor background knowledge.

I will check back on this blog and podcast as to how it is going in the classroom. I also welcome you thoughts and suggestions.

As always "Go Forth & Do Great Things!"

Link to podcast version

"I am done, What do I do now?": The most hated question in tech/engineering class

The question I hate most in my classes is "I am done, What do I do now?". I hate it more than kids who choose to play games on the computers when they are finished (and sometimes before they are finished). I know I am a teacher but I see myself more as a project manager than an entertainer. I know there are some teachers out there that see themselves as a entertainer but that is not me. I know that some presentations & articles I have read equate teaching to entertaining because we have to compete with the likes of sensationalized TV and Games as well as easy access to music. It is hard to complete with the immediate feedback and gratification from these entities as well. However all that being said I do have a tool I use to help combat that question and also help students start to build some of the soft skills employer's look for in a potential future employee. The idea is what I call Leadership Points.

I got this idea from a fellow teacher who used something similar in their class as a way of keeping kids busy if they finished work early. Now I know that some of you will automatically start thinking of these things a just busy work. The idea is that students have a series of tasks to choose from that they can do with minimal to no help from me or others. The tasks fit into 5 areas of Employ-ability skills:

• Professional development
  

• Taking Initiative
  

• Management
  

• Career Prep
  

• Community Service
  

I have run these by employers and most feel these are good soft skills for students to start working on at a middle school level. I know there are more than just these 5 employ-ability skills; I choose these 5 as they are easy for middle school kids to understand and relate to. Within each of these areas are tasks kids can do that earn them a select number of points. Tasks range from easy things like: 

• tracking daily work in planner
• cleaning the classroom
• filling out an application

to harder ones like:

• designing a new job
• reading a book or article relating to subject of class and reporting back on it
• 1 month of community service
• teach the class (with lesson plans and assessment)

The harder the task the more points it is worth. I try and make it easy for them to get the points by just requiring that they show me or an adult over 18 evidence of completing the task. The one catch is if they loose the form before completing the 300 points they loose the points unless they can show evidence of completion. This is probably the biggest issue I haven't found a way to resolve is kids loosing the form but it is a good lesson for them to learn when the stakes are low.

I have heard from both students, parents, and other teachers many issues with this assignment. When I first started out a lot of people saw these as just busy work which yes they kind of are but when coming up with list of tasks I tried to think of ones that not only fit the category but also were relevant to both the class and it's operation which helps add value to them and makes them seem less as busy work. I get 3 big complaints from students and parents when it comes to this assignment. The first one is that there are too many, I require 300 points in a semester. However when I break it down in terms of how long they have to do them, 1 semester or about 4.5 months, that tasks the wind out of that complaint. Also once people see the type of activities and how easy some of them are it also helps to minimize this complaint. The second biggest complaint I get from both parents (although not so much once I explain/remind them when assigned) and students is I didn't get them enough time. This is mainly because students wait till the last minute to do them and find they don't have enough time to complete 300. The third biggest complaint I got was that they had too much of an impact on student's grades. This one took some time to figure out as I wanted the kids to take the assignment seriously but also didn't want it to cause them to fail the class if they didn't do them but did the other work for the class. What I have settled on is making them 20% of the grade in my class and making sure to have points they can get for doing everyday tasks in class.

All in all over the last 4+ years I have been doing Leadership Points I have found them to be beneficial for both me and others. Some of the changes I have made over the last 4 years to make the experience easier and more motivating are to give parents and other teacher the ability to sign off on points, the willingness to let students negotiate what they can to do to get points, and the newest thing creating a Leadership badge students can earn and proudly display if they complete their 300 points before the due date.  I have posted a copy of the form I hand out to students as well as a link to my podcast on this topic. Feel free to make a copy of the form and use it in your classroom. You have my permission to modify and change the form to fit your unique situation. I also welcome your thoughts on the topic and ideas of tasks I can add.

As always:

Go Forth & Do Great Things!
All pictures are in the public domain

Files/Links:

Leadership Point form.
Link to Podcast
Interland by google
Codecombat

Prepping kids for the "Real World"

Credits: pic 1= https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Women_at_work_during_the_First_World_War_Q30804.jpg 

pic 2= https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6083/6102401113_68b228bb15_b.jpg

The two pictures above represent 2 different career paths that students can take but they represent a topic that has been on my mind for the past couple of years as a teacher, prepping kids for what I refer to as The Real World.

No I am not talking about the MTV reality series but life after/outside of school. For those who don't know I work in the curricular area of CTE (Career and Technical Education) and enjoy what the work I do greatly. I often times refer to my classes as the glue or the reason why students need to know Science, English Language Arts, Additional Languages (my own term since I consider coding to be worth a foreign language credit to graduation), Math, PE, Art, etc. In addition to giving students opportunities to apply their learning in other curricular areas, I also teach is referred to as employ-ability skills or 21st century skills.  

These skills include things like working as a team, problem solving, project management, improvising

These skills include things like working as a team, problem solving, project management, improvising, showing up on time, work ethic, and many more. It is the last one work ethic I have been struggling with over the last few years. Then a recent exchange with colleagues got me wondering how and if we are prepping kids for the real world of work or if the world of work is evolving.

Back when I was in school doing quality work, following directions, and getting things done on time were non-negotiable

. We did the work and if we didn't do a good job or turned it in late we understood the consequences. Now sometimes we were given grace but usually we had to ask for it or let the teacher know things ahead of time. However now a-days it seems that kids expect that they can turn something in late, or redo work that was not to the expectation, or can negotiate different expectations whenever they want. This is not something I usually allow in my class without a good reason and done before assignment is due. Yet it seems this is happening more and more and without students initiating the conversation. In conversations with my colleagues we debate giving test corrections for kids to improve their score or having flexible or no due dates because we are measuring a standard and turning in things on time is not the standard being measured (not a knock against standards based grading).

https://fnoschese.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/assesmentsheet.png

I know that there are good intentions in these practices. We want kids to experience success, we want to know they have mastered that standard, kids learn at different paces and ways, and on and on. These are all great reasons but at what cost are they being used?

So my concern is that as kids move through K-12 if we are not putting an emphasis on things like getting things done on time, to standard/Spec, etc. are we really preparing them for life in the real world or has the real world changed to where you can redo things until you get it correct, there is no real time limit, etc.

I know in talking with employers in my biannual meeting I do heart the opposite of what we are doing in education yet I know that is a small subset of employers so I would like to hear from others about this. What are your expectation of people entering into the workforce these days?

I would also like to know how you teach kids employ-ability skills like the ones mentioned in this blog. What ways are you helping to prepare kids for the real world. I look forward to your comments.

As always: "Go Forth & Do Great Things!"

Future jobs; training required

https://www.newbedfordguide.com/hot-jobs-list-15/2014/08/20

On a recent episode of TWIT (This Week in Tech) the host and guest were talking about jobs and what types of jobs Amazon Go store uses technology to charge you for what you take and also how automated cars will take away driving jobs, and how AI will lead to computers that program themselves. This has been a discussion that has happened on this show many times and I have seen play out in the news recently as well. What was interesting to me was when they started talking about training needed.
were needed for future careers. They context of the discussion was in regards to technology taking over jobs such as grocery clerks, drivers, warehouse stocking, etc. They were advising a kid in the audience on what kind of training/schooling and jobs he should look for as he gets older. Their discussed how the

What I found interesting is the type of training/schooling the host and guests recommended. They talked about programming and computer science degrees but shot each other down based on AI taking over programming, automation taking over driving, & eventually settled on skilled trade type jobs of monitoring and maintaining automated devices and code. As well as skilled creative jobs that require out of the box type thinking that humans do better than machines. It was funny to see them fumble for words or a description of what kinds of training this was. I wish I had watched it live so I could post the description into the chat room as I found myself screaming it at the recording. 😝 I wanted so badly to say they were talking about CTE (Career & Technical Education).

http://vcs-k12.wikispaces.com/CTE

You might notice in my posts on social media and on hear that I get fired up and passionate about this topic. After working as a CTE teacher in robotics and programming as well as in PLTW (Project Lead The Way) Flight & Space class I find that the focus on the college part of college and career readiness is a bit too much. I am a passionate supporter of CTE classes as a pathway for kids into a career as well as college, because lets face it there are some kids whom college is not and option.

Back in my day in middle and high school we had shop class as well as home Ec

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Home_Economics_class_receiving_instructions_on_cooking._Ottawa,_Ontario,_1959.jpg

. In middle school we learned about general topics like sewing & cooking and wood & metal working as well as plaster work. We made things like aprons, omelettes, pies, checker boards, plaster & metal casts, etc. We learned things like the importance of safety, especially when pouring molten metal & operating power tools, and the importance of accurate measurement, as well as taking your time to plan things out and reading instructions. In high school we had some of the same things but more focused like adult living, small gas engines, drafting, consumer math, etc. What I found is that where I struggled in an academics setting in these shop or Voc ed classes I excelled. I had to take algebra 2 times and did poorly in geometry. I struggled with reading and writing and math, it would take me several attempts at homework and extra credit to simply get a passing grade since I struggled on the the tests. It wasn't until many years later I found out that the reason I excelled in the Voc Ed classes on some of the same problems and algorithms and work I was doing in academic classes as in the Voc Ed classes were put in context.

I now try to keep this in mind with my teaching but I also try to keep it in mind when I talk with colleagues and other teachers and online. It is important as we move forward with change in education we don't forget about those kids like me who need that context when teaching a skill or subject. It is helpful if we teach reading to put it into context of reading for pleasure but also reading for career. Same for writing, math, science, etc. Simply teaching someone to write an expository paragraph on a topic that relates to kids lives is not enough. Having them write up an explanation of a recent event in a school news paper is better as they see the reason for the writing. Having them write a copy of the morning announcements regarding the daily happenings is better so they see their work published. Teaching kids math like fractions and equations just so they learn them for a test is not enough. That info needs to be embedded in design rooms, programming robots, building towers. Things they can apply or can see themselves doing in a real world context. This is what college and more importantly career ready means. 

http://harringtonlc.org/riverroad/student-resources/college-and-career-websites/

Lastly I want to say that we need to be careful when we plan work and design course and help our kids pick out classes that we are not doing so though the rose colored eyes of everyone needs to go to college to be successful. For some of us that isn't true and for some of us college is not in the cards. I was amazed when I started teaching CTE classes and meeting with industry partners and was told the following story. A professor as a local tech school shared that he had trouble keeping girls in his robotics classes. Our group asked why this was the case, wondering if girls were not going into the program or losing interest or what. His answer shocked me and others. The answer was that they were being hired out of his class by employer's to complete their training on the job for on average $70,000/year.  Think about that for a minute. A young girl 19+ years old being hired out of a 2 year trade school and making $70,000 to start. That is better than I did with a masters degree and teaching certificate. There are good paying jobs out there that don't need a 4+ year degree to get.

What I will end with is that we need to make sure we are designing school/education that allows kids to make their own choice about the future. Whether that be college or career.
I would love to hear your thoughts regarding this topics so feel free to post your comments below.f

As always go forth and do great things.